Page 57 of Lavender and Lightning

“The number in the texts isn’t blocked. You could call it yourself to confirm who the person is,” Alexandra interrupts sharply.

“Which is what I suggest you do, officer. This investigation into the harassment against Ms. Anderson has gone on for long enough without some sort of result,” Ted adds sternly.

There’s a brief pulse of affection for the lawyer in my chest. He’s one of the few people in this profession that I’ve ever met that actually seems to care about his clients.

“I know it can be frustrating, but these things take time—”

“Officer Nyueng, it’s clear that time is something that we don’t have the luxury of anymore. We need some sort of order of protection put into place,” Alexandra says.

Her spine straightens beside me, and I can’t help but do the same as we both look at Lee. The beta shifts uncomfortably in his seat, not looking at us.

“I can talk to my supervisor, see if we have enough to get an order passed by a judge. We need to have evidence, and it’s pretty thin on the ground right now,” Lee says hesitantly.

“What do you need? Proof that Darren intends to hurt me? Because I can assure you that this is a threat. This is how he would talk to me when I did something he didn’t like. And it always ended with some form of abuse,” I insist.

“You and I are going to go down to the station and work something out, officer. I think there’s enough evidence,” Ted says, sitting up and preparing to get to his feet.

I look at Alexandra, but she just nods. Ted stands with a groan and walks toward the door. Lee looks between his retreating back and me and Alexandra, but I take my cue from her and stay quiet.

“You know how to contact me if there’s anything else,” he mumbles before getting to his feet and walking with Ted out of Alexandra’s office.

twenty-four

Lydia

There’salongmomentof silence before I slump back into the chair. Alexandra sighs and rolls her shoulders.

“I told him you can’t go another day without some sort of legal protection from these assholes. Ted will get it done,” she drones, not looking at me.

“I know. Just wish I knew how it happened. Jason and I have been so careful,” I grumble.

“After speaking with your brother, I can tell he seems genuinely worried about you. If you think your mother and your ex are stealing your phone number from your communication with Jason, I think he’d understand if you needed to go radio silent for a while, at minimum, until after you come home from the wedding,” she answers.

I sigh, my heart sinking. I don’t want to not speak with Jason for three weeks. Just going the few days after our argument was bad enough. But Alexandra is probably right. It would be stupid to keep putting myself at risk just because I miss him. It’s been almost a year since the last time I saw him in person, and I’m feeling it. Jason has been the one constant in my life, and not being able to lean on him when everything seems to be falling apart hurts.

“Lydia, I know this situation isn’t ideal, and I’d understand if—”

“If what? If I want to leave?” I say, speaking over her sullen words with my own insecurity.

Alexandra twists so she’s looking at me then, and there’s something flashing in her eyes that I don’t recognize immediately. It’s not quite anger, or betrayal, or hurt. Her eyes say so many things, but the emotions flicker too fast for me to pin down and name, even as her expression remains cool. A spark in the depths blazes to life, and citrus fills my nose. I hold her stare, trying to ignore how dry my mouth gets, and how my thighs clench when her hazel eyes roam over my face. I swallow, unable to handle the silence anymore.

“Do you… Do you want me to leave?” I ask, barely above a whisper.

There’s a heartbeat when I swear that she’s going to say yes. That unidentifiable emotion flares in her eyes, and it almost looks like anger, but with something else running below the surface. But then suddenly, she’s off the arm of the couch and straddling my lap, knees on either side of my legs as she leans over me. She holds herself up with one arm on the back of the chair, but her face is within inches of mine.

This is the closest contact we’ve had since that day in her home office, but my body reacts immediately. The warmth of her skin radiates through the layers of our clothes, and my blood turns molten under her gaze. For a moment, I can’t breathe fully, my chest expanding in fits and spurts until I gasp, trying to stop my head from spinning.

I let out a shaky breath, focusing on her eyes. I don’t know what to do with my hands, so I just let them fall into my lap, too afraid to touch her and mar an inch of her perfect skin. Alexandra’s face is smooth, nearly unreadable except for the inferno in her eyes. This is the predator my instincts detected, and I freeze like a deer caught before a mountain lion. I shiver as she brushes a stray strand of hair from my face, the tip of her nail dragging lightly over my cheek. Her finger continues past my ear until suddenly, she has a fistful of my hair in her hand, and she’s pulling hard, exposing my throat.

“Do youreallythink you could leave us, sweetness? That there is anywhere you could go where I wouldn’t find you?”

Swallowing hard, my body is suddenly acutely aware of every place her body touches mine. Her eyes pin me in place as effectively as any rope, and I can’t move. I fight the urge to give in to my primal mind, determined to stay in control this time. I don’t want to be a mewling kitten, someone this beautiful, fierce woman would chew up and spit out. But the overwhelming heat of her, the weight of her on my lap, the scent of her desire makes it hard to focus. Alexandra trails a single finger along the jumping vein in my throat, tracing the neckline of my light cotton shirt. Goosebumps break out everywhere she touches. I gasp lightly as her finger drifts lower, along the swell of my breast, tracing the edge of my bra cup before traveling inward.

“You think the noble move would be to leave. You see yourself as our weakness, our pressure point. If you’re gone, then all our troubles would just melt away.”

I can hardly think about what she’s saying. My mind is acutely focused on the point of her fingernail as it draws slow, ever tightening circles around my rock-hard nipple. I try to swallow again, my tongue coated in the taste of cloves and cinnamon. My palms are slick with sweat, and I can feel my pussy clenching on nothing, the hollow ache filling my lower belly.

“But there’s no trouble too great to outweigh the joy you bring to me and my pack. And besides…” Alexandra leans in, her cheek nuzzling mine for a moment as she gets close enough to brush those supple, crimson-painted lips against the shell of my ear. The finger circling my nipple slides across my chest until she flattens her palm over my sternum, pinning me to the chair.

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